1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to methods and systems for assembling an indoor unit of an air conditioner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, industrial products such as an indoor unit of a dual-unit type air conditioner are made by separately manufacturing the parts thereof and then assembling the unit elements.
The process for assembling the products is performed on a linear conveyor system in consideration of manufacturing productivity thereof and convenience in supervising.
Such a conveyor system employs a method which a plurality of workers positioned along the linear conveyor line assemble the elements conveyed thereon.
An example of such a linear conveyor system is shown in FIG. 1 which shows a linear conveyer system on which elements of an indoor unit of a dual-unit type air conditioner are assembled.
As shown, a plurality of workers W are positioned along a long linear assembly line 1 in order to assemble elements of respective units. Opposite to the workers W, a kit box conveying line 2 is disposed. The kit box conveying line 2 functions to convey kit boxes containing elements of respective units along the assembly line 1.
An inspection section 3 for performing quality testing upon the assembled units is positioned at the rear end of the assembly line 1. A packing section 4 for packing the assembled indoor units so as to ship the same is positioned at a rear end of the inspection section 3.
Thus, as kit boxes containing the elements of respective units are conveyed along the kit conveying line 2, workers positioned along the assembly line 1 assemble the elements of respective products. Fully assembled indoor units now undergo the quality testing processes such as a withstand voltage test, a noise test, etc. Then the indoor units are packed at a packing section 4 so as to be shipped.
As described, in the linear conveyor line for manufacturing the indoor unit, a variety of unit processes are performed by the workers. As shown in FIG. 1, twenty-one workers for assembling the indoor unit, three workers for quality tests, and six workers for packing are required. Approximately, forty workers are required for respective processes including a supporting work force such as supervisors, repairmen, etc.
Accordingly, the linear conveyor system is very efficient in manufacturing products if workers are skilled ones.
There is, however, a drawback in that only one kind of product can be manufactured on such a linear conveyor system.
More specifically, if the manufacturer wants to assemble various kinds of products at the same time, the assembly systems corresponding thereto must be equipped, or the assembly line must be changed in accordance with the need of the manufacturer.
Recent trends require that a system capable of manufacturing multiple kinds of products in small quantity is preferred, so the assembly line must be changed quite often in order to meet the varying demands of consumers.
Consequently, a lot of time and funds must be spent on the manufacturing equipments, and manufacturers achieve relatively low productivity compared with the investment they have made. Even more, once the equipment is changed, then the equipment cannot be adopted in manufacturing products which have been previously produced. This means that the manufacturer cannot flexibly deal with the various demands of the customers.
An object of the present invention is to provide a system for assembling an indoor unit of an air conditioner in which a variety of products are conveniently manufactured in accordance with the demands of a market.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for assembling an indoor unit of air conditioner performed by the above-described assembly system.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a system for assembling indoor units of dual-unit type air conditioner, the system comprising: an evaporator assembly section for assembling evaporators; and a plurality of unit cells on which evaporators assembled on the evaporator assembly section are assembled with other elements so that indoor units are fully assembled, and inspection and packing processes of indoor units are performed.
It is preferable that said unit cell comprises: a rear body input section for inputting the indoor unit to which rear bodies and elements thereof are assembled; an evaporator fixing section for fixing evaporators assembled at the evaporator assembly section on the indoor units input to the rear body input section; a wiring section for wiring the indoor units assembled at the evaporator fixing section; a front panel fixing section for fixing front panels on the indoor units wired at the wiring section; an inspection section for testing quality of the indoor units fully assembled at the front panel fixing section; and a packing section for packing and shipping the indoor units which have passed the quality test at the inspection section.
To achieve another object of the present invention, the present invention provides a method for assembling indoor units of dual-unit type air conditioner, the method comprising the steps of: assembling evaporators; completing assembly of the indoor units by assembling evaporators with other elements; performing quality test upon the indoor units; and packing the indoor units which have passed the quality test.
Preferably, the step of completing comprises the steps of: inputting the indoor units on which rear bodies and other elements are assembled; fixing evaporators to the indoor units; wiring the indoor units; and fixing front panels to the indoor units. It is possible to further comprise the steps of stocking a plurality of elements in a kit box, and conveying the kit box.
According to the present invention, indoor units are respectively assembled, tested, and packed on separate unit cells. Therefore, the manufacturer can meet the varying demands of the market simply by adjusting the number of unit cells.